TOP BAKING & PASTRY CAREER PATHS CHOOSE YOUR PATH TO SUCCESS Your exciting baking and pastry career is well within reach! It’s time to turn your passion and creativity into your dream career at The Culinary Institute of America. There are so many diverse and amazing paths you can choose—paths that will take you places you’ve never even imagined. On the following pages are a number of outstanding baking and pastry career tracks, and examples of CIA alumni who are actually doing these jobs. It worked for them—why not you? Now is the time to start your journey, and have the career that you always wanted. It all begins at the CIA! Information contained in this document was verified as of the date it was published by The Culinary Institute of America. Changes may have occurred since publication. BAKER Bakers must be able to scale (or measure) ingredients accurately, mix them properly, and bake them correctly. This is not just a simple matter of following a formula. On any given day, the air may be more humid, or the flour may be a little harder or drier than it was for the last batch. Only bakers who are skilled enough to see or feel the difference in a dough and make the correct adjustments can ensure consistency. They must also have a keen sense of art and design throughout the creative process. KAMAL GRANT ’04 Owner, Sublime Doughnuts, Atlanta, GA Kamal Grant’s love for baking started at a very young age. So when he joined the Navy, Kamal used that as an opportunity to pursue his dream as a world-class baker. He enrolled at the CIA once his enlistment ended, and after graduation worked as a production supervisor at the Flowers “The training and Baking Company. But Kamal wanted his own shop, and took a big chance with the business plan for the background I his small bakery, Sublime Doughnuts in Atlanta. received at the CIA It worked—the bakery has done so well that he has since opened a Sublime Doughnut in Bangkok gave me the tools and is considering other franchising opportunities. And Kamal’s creations have landed on the “best to become a great doughnuts” lists of Food & Wine, Bake, and chef. The lessons I US News & World Report magazines. learned—especially about using the best possible products and plate presentation—I still use every day.” LEARN MORE: CIACHEF.EDU PASTRY CHEF There’s a need for skilled pastry chefs in virtually all corners of the food world, whether it be in restaurants, a corporate environment, or neighborhood pastry shops. The work that is required of pastry chefs is even more exacting than that done in bakeshops. Their creations demand a certain sense of form, line, and balance. Working with chocolate and sugar; knowing how to correctly measure, mix, and blend; and understanding certain scientific principles related to the craft are among the special skills that pastry chefs must have. Pastry chefs must also possess a keen sense of art and design during the creative process. LAURA SAWICKI ’05 “The CIA turned Executive Pastry Chef and Co-Owner, Launderette, Austin, TX out to be more Starting out as an aspiring Paloma in Brooklyn. It was there that Chef Sawicki artist, Laura Sawicki found a met Rene Ortiz, who would later invite her to join than I could ever different kind of art studying him at La Condesa in Austin, TX. That professional have imagined. abroad in Florence, Italy—the partnership ultimately led to them opening their art of baking and pastry. own highly successful restaurant, Launderette. Each baking She followed her newfound Chef Sawicki has received many accolades since, passion to the CIA, and after including being named Food & Wine magazine’s and pastry chef graduation staged in many of New York’s finest Best New Pastry Chef, and nominated twice for I studied with felt restaurants before becoming pastry chef at James Beard Foundation awards. like the best one.” . love is ed now and then doe ne late sn’t u oco hu o ch rt y ULZ . ll le . SCH tt ES M A li ARL a CH t u B LEARN MORE: CIACHEF.EDU CHOCOLATIER A chocolatier is a professional who creates confections out of chocolate. Becoming a successful chocolatier involves perfecting the art of working with chocolate to create not only delicious desserts, but also beautifully and skillfully crafted pieces of art. A good background in confections and pastries is needed to master the diverse world of chocolate. The best chocolatiers become highly skilled in techniques such as molding, tempering, and sculpting, and have an in-depth understanding of how to make chocolate from a variety of different origins. GINGER ELIZABETH HAHN ’03 Chocolatier and Owner, Ginger Elizabeth Chocolates Ginger Hahn began her career steadily ever since. In 2010, Ginger was named as an apprentice under World one of the Top Ten Chocolatiers in North America Pastry Cup gold medalist by Dessert Professional magazine. That same year, En-Ming Hsu ’92 at The Ritz- the Sacramento Business Journal named her one Carlton in Chicago. She then of its “40 under 40” notable business owners. moved back home to California Today she has a staff of 20 and a newly opened, and, in 2005, launched the 3,500-square-foot commissary workshop with a “I knew the CIA wholesale chocolate company Couture Chocolates state-of-the-art kitchen. was the best. I by Ginger Elizabeth. Three years later, she opened her first retail location in Sacramento wanted to achieve under the company’s new name, Ginger Elizabeth Chocolates, pastry excellence and business has grown and the CIA gave me the skills to reach for my goal.” Put ‘eat chocolate’ at the top of your list of things to do today. That way, at least you’ll get one thing done. LEARN MORE: CIACHEF.EDU CAKE DESIGNER/ DECORATOR Cake decorating ranges from simple to elaborate, from basic supermarket birthday cakes to breathtaking designs of professional pastry chefs. Even with this variety of end products, the basic skills and knowledge needed for cake decorating are generally the same. Cake designers work with a wide range of cakes, fillings, and icings, and must understand the characteristics of each and how they all work together. They need basic baking techniques to assemble the cake itself, then the artistry and creativity to craft it into a beautiful finished piece. Piping and sculpting are among the essential skills of the successful cake designer. DUFF GOLDMAN ’98 Owner, Charm City Cakes, Baltimore, MD Thanks to his past success to 200 hours to complete. The award-winning Chef as host of the Food Network’s Goldman often uses drills, power saws, belt sanders, Ace of Cakes, Duff Goldman and blowtorches to make his cakes. Before long, the earned nationwide fame for recognition—as well as the cake orders—started his creative cake design. He pouring in. His celebrity customers have ranged began his professional career from Hillary Clinton to with stints as executive Alice Cooper. “Going to the CIA pastry chef at the Vail Cascade Hotel and Resort in Colorado and bread baker at Olives in Washington, was one of the best DC before opening his own business in Baltimore. experiences of my Known for its out-of-the-ordinary creations inspired by just about anything, Charm City life. I had so much Cakes offers special-occasion cakes made to order, each taking anywhere from 10 fun and learned so much—everything that I possibly could. I had the best instructors in the world at the CIA.” LEARN MORE: CIACHEF.EDU RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (R&D) CHEF Everyone who produces a piece of equipment that is used in a bakeshop or kitchen, or a bottled sauce, spice, herb, or mustard, would like their potential customer to get the most out of their product. This is important in order to build consumer confidence, increase repeat business, and keep their company at the top of the heap. Who better than a chef or pastry chef to help devise recipes, uses, videotapes, booklets, pamphlets, and cookbooks that promote the product? Areas for R&D chefs include product development, equipment design and “I learned so much development, test kitchens and bakeshops, menu development, and corporate at the CIA. I’d research and development. bring my creations GEORGE CHOOKAZIAN ’93 in to show Chef Founder, Foods By George, Mahwah, NJ Coppedge what I When George Chookazian and sells food to distributors from Maine to Florida and his wife Cecilia were dating, from New York to Chicago; to larger chain stores was doing with they discovered that she had like Wegmans, Hannafords, and Whole Foods; the gluten-free celiac disease. To George, that and through his online store at wasn’t a deterrent to their foodsbygeorge.com. flour mixtures. He relationship but rather a call to action. As he learned more and was an enormous came to understand how difficult it was for Cecilia help—critiquing to find gluten-free foods, he developed gluten-free baking mixes so she could eat a broader selection of my results and high-quality foods—and a groundbreaking business was born. Foods By George was encouraging me launched in 1991, and today to pursue a new the wholesale facility frontier in baking.” LEARN MORE: CIACHEF.EDU FOOD STYLIST The preparation and unique arrangement of food being photographed is often the work of a food stylist. When you look at a magazine article and are struck by the way the food is presented on a plate or the way it is garnished, you are usually reacting to the work of the food stylist.